35 thoughts I had watching Drag Race season 15, Snatch Game: ‘Riggory is afoot’

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 is back, back, back, back, back again – but a double serving of Snatch Game with 14 queens and 20 minutes less to show them in leads to an episode that can only be described as crunchy.

As is typical with the now-infamous celebrity impersonation challenge, we get some laughs but a hell of a lot more awkward pauses, made so much worse by whichever gay was feeling particularly liberal with the shade-sound-effect-button in the editor’s chair that day.

Loosey LaDuca completes her three-and-a-half episode long RuDemption arc, Ru continues her campaign of psychological warfare against Marcia x3 and, in a move that shocks literally no one, the seasoning sisters Sugar and Spice find themselves in a lip-sync for their lives.

Here are 35 thoughts I had watching episode four of RuPaul’s Drag Race, season 15.

• As the good queens of Drag Race like to say, we are BACK in the werkroom, following Princess Poppy’s demotion to peasant (elimination). Sad to see her go, but it does mean we get a blistering bit of shade when Amethyst says: “I’m gagged that I’m still here,” to which Selina replies: “Us too.” HELP.
• Luxx Noir London is now a strong contender for Irene’s replacement as season antagonist and I am so here for it. She tells Loosey (who was in the top with Luxx and Sasha last week), that if she had to rank the top three, she’d have placed Loosey third. Unprompted, mind you.
• These episodes are now SO short. From the queens coming back into the werkroom to the start of the next day is two and a half minutes. And if you think that’s a long time, I don’t know what to tell you.
• “Another day of trauma” – funny.
• Spice telling Amethyst that she has one more strike until she’s out and then immediately going: “[Mistress] made me say it!” is so cute – family that shades together stays together, I guess.

• I always think it’s so bold of queens like Luxx to shade queens like Trinity the Tuck so openly – Luxx is doing Amanda Lepore for Snatch Game, the same character as Trinity did in season nine, but says she’s not worried because Trinity “didn’t do a good job.”. And how many crowns do you have, Luxx? How many seasons of Drag Race have you been on, Luxx? I stan anyway, obvs.
• Spice as Miley Cyrus and Sugar as Trisha Paytas is so on brand, I love them.
• NOT Selina being the Virgin Mary.
• The fact that the Pit Crew are the Snatch Game contestants is iconic, but not as iconic as the fact that production has cut out the front of their desks so their speedos are just staring me in the eye all episode long. Sometimes less IS more!
• Marcia Marcia Marcia as Tim Gunn has me rolling.
• SO DOES ANETRA’S GORGENA RAMSEY. An awful British accent and then Anetra saying she’s from Nevada? Instant Snatch Game Hall of Fame, right next to Jaida’s All Stars Prince.

• Selina’s ‘Virgin Mary giving birth’ skit is unfortunately, not very funny.
• Loosey LaDuca wins this Snatch Game within the first thirty seconds of round two – by character choice and comedy: “What’s my favourite position? The neighbour’s house.”
• Conversely, Sugar and Spice (and Aura) are very obvious bottoms, (placement wise), judging by several pointed editing choices. Why keep Spice’s headband randomly falling off or insert the shade rattlesnake sound after every answer Sugar gives unless you as an editor are forcing a storyline?
• Jax as the Mona Lisa?? Drag is SO fun.
• Riggory is afoot with this editing. We have more Loosey, Sugar and Spice than perhaps every other contestant combined. Sasha gets a total of one answer aired aside from her introduction.
• Unironically finding Sugar and Spice very funny. Spice opting to literally just lick a sledgehammer and then do an Elmer Fudd impression instead of answering is comedy genius, actually.

• This is exactly what I meant last week r.e. shortened timings and room for riggory: because the episode and therefore Snatch Game is so squished for time, you can really tell who the judges are editing as funnier/ not funny E.g: Sasha and Robin Fierce’s single (unremarkable) answers are deemed safe – and yet we see so much more of Sugar and Spice’s, who both actually had some LOL moments, but they land in the bottom.
• RuPaul’s Riggory Race
• On this episode of Drag Race, the winner of the Snatch Game is; Bryce’s speedos.
• Back in the werkroom we get Loosey’s contractually obliged trauma dump – it is very impactful, in fairness, but with 20 minutes less breathing space, give us judge’s deliberations and “Bring Back My Girls” instead. Gotta get that Emmy somehow, I guess!
• Amandla Stenberg looks very slay, yas and werk as guest judge.
• I forgot that style superstar Carson Kressley was on the panel.

• Sometimes, when a queen says “I made this myself” while walking the runway, that doesn’t mean that the look is automatically good. I’m not naming any names, because I couldn’t do what they do, but equally, you don’t have to be able to do a backflip to be able to tell when someone does a bad backflip.
• Bonus shoutout for Amethyst as Lady Gaga in the iconic “Paparazzi” VMA performance outfit – She’s also the only queen to ever lip-sync in episodes one and two of Drag Race and not go home episode three (which just so happened to be Snatch Game)! Herstory.
• Marcia, Loosey and Mistress are in the top, but Ru needs to leave this damn musical theatre twink ALONE! First it’s the makeup, and then it’s Ru evaluating her runway lewk with a: “You gotta learn how to drag this s**t up.” MAMA! SHE’S A MAN IN A WIG THAT YOU CAST ON YOUR SHOW! THAT IS DRAG!
• Unexpected late entry for the Snatch Game with Michelle Visage’s spot-on Miley Stewart impression?
• Having zero judges deliberations is SO jarring. I feel like Sasha Colby’s neck – cracked.
• Aura needn’t have worried at all; ain’t no way the twins were going to be in the bottom three and then not have to lip sync.
• Can’t believe they’ve given this ‘Twin-sync’ the mot un-Gen-Z song ever written. Like, surely you throw them some Kim Petras?
• THE TWINS CHOREOGRAPHING THIS PERFORMANCE IS A BIT ICONIC ACTUALLY.
• Marcia seems to have a real issue with the twins doing their “canned bits”, but like… if you’re part of a duo, why on earth would you not?

• It’s really, really sad to see Sugar leave Drag Race after Snatch Game, especially when a large part of what placed her in the bottom was editing. Production could just have easily thrown Aura and Robin in there.
• Particularly interesting sneak peek, in which we see Spice tell Mistress that she thinks Sugar deserves to still be in the compeitition over other girls.
• Final thought: these 40 minute episodes are screwing everyone from the queens to the franchise itself over. I feel like I don’t know most of these queens, four episodes in. How many confessionals did Robin Fierce have this episode? Anetra? Once again, I blame Todrick Hall.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 airs on Fridays 8/7c on MTV in the US and will be available to watch on Wow Presents Plus on following Saturday mornings from 2am GMT in the UK.

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